


Until The Night Is Over

by what_the_nesmith



Category: Class (TV 2016), Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Genre: But also it's a spooky alien story, Essentially an excuse for the gang to go camping and have fun, M/M, Ram and April are flirty but not quite together yet, Takes place before episode 4
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-26 23:20:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15011603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/what_the_nesmith/pseuds/what_the_nesmith
Summary: A spooky story Ram sends Tanya late at night results in Tanya becoming convinced aliens are (possibly) hurting kids who go camping in the woods. So what? So Tanya thinks it's a good idea to get the gang to go camping, obviously just to go find these aliens to stop that. No ulterior motives or anything. Obviously.





	1. Chapter 1

Lizzie pressed herself against the trunk of the tree, feeling the bark bite into her skin, breath coming in ragged gulps. How’d it all go so downhill, so quickly? They’d only meant to go camping, have a bit of fun. And yet Sandra was only god-knew where and Mark… Lizzie screwed her eyes shut, forcing her thoughts elsewhere. The forest kept everything dark, shadowed, and turning on her torch didn’t seem like a good idea. But she needed to get out of here. The road couldn’t be that far away. As soon as they’d attacked Mark, Lizzie had bolted in the direction of the road. 

They’d followed of course, there were so many of them, but she was a fast runner. The road really couldn’t be that far away. She’d be there soon. But her legs felt like rubber and she had urinated on herself. If her friends could only see her now, they’d laugh. Well… maybe not. Not now, not after both Sandra and Patrick had seen what had happened to Mark. They, like Lizzie, probably had peed their pants too. God, why had they come? Everyone in town knew the rumors, had heard stories, but why hadn’t she and her friends listened? It seemed so logical now, such a stupid decision to come camping here. 

But hindsight really did help. It wasn’t like they’d believed the stories. Only very small children and drunks believed them, not a group of teenagers looking for a bit of fun on the weekend. So all of this really wasn’t that fair. Lizzie had to get a move on. The longer she stayed glued to the tree, the slimmer her chance got of making it to the road safely. Taking a shaky breath, Lizzie steeled herself. She peeled herself away from the tree, squinting in the darkness to try and see if anything was around. If it was safe. The coast appeared to be clear. 

Lizzie took off, sprinting through the woods. There was hardly a single thought in her head, except for the words “run” and “road”. It was just straight ahead. Someone would probably be driving at some point, then Lizzie could hitch a ride. Even if she didn’t find a car, then at least she could run in the direction of civilization. She could run far, far away from this hellish forest. Her legs carried her over rocks and twigs and other random debris one usually finds in the woods, but then there was a log. She didn’t see it in the gloom and her foot caught and she fell. 

The ground knocked the wind out of her, a burst of pain in her ankle and knee. Her body had instinctively brought her arms up so that she hadn’t hit her head or face at all, but regardless, fear zipped through every fiber of her being. Surely they’d heard her. Surely she was doomed now. Her first instinct was to pick herself up and take off again, but she held her breath. She listened. There were the usual sounds. Bugs and the wind. Some rustling but nothing that made Lizzie’s spine chill. 

Then there was the snapping of a twig. Despite her lungs burning for air, Lizzie held her breath. Had they found her? Was this it now? So close to the road, but unable to reach it. There were the crunch of footsteps. Lizzie tried to remember how they had sounded when they’d walked into camp, but she couldn’t. There was a rather large stone off to her left and gingerly Lizzie moved herself so she was on all fours. Her hand sought out the rock. She wasn’t going to make this easy for those bastards. 

The footsteps were closer now and she was certain that it was now or never. They had the better eyesight it seemed. She’d surely have been spotted by now. Now or never. Fight or flight, and all she had was fight. And a rock. Springing to her feet, Lizzie whirled to face the direction where she thought the things were coming from, brandishing the rock. A guttural roar escaped her. And then something was rushing at her and Lizzie swung the rock, but it dodged and a hand was on her mouth. 

“Shut up, stupid,” hissed Patrick, his voice tight with fear. 

His hand fell away. Lizzie dropped the rock, stopped her screaming, and wrapped herself around Patrick. 

“Christ, shit, I thought- I’d thought you’d,” she tried to speak but she really didn’t know how to convey all the horrible things she had thought. “Where’s Sandra? Is she with you?” 

Patrick pried himself away from her, even though Lizzie didn’t want him to go. 

“We’ve gotta go, Liz, there isn’t much time,” Patrick said, voice so quiet that Lizzie had some trouble making out his words. 

“Where’s Sandra?” Lizzie repeated. 

There was a panic growing inside her, swirling around and threatening to drag her deep into its grasp. 

“The road’s straight ahead, right?” Patrick was already taking her by the hand, indicating the way towards the road. 

“Yeah,” Lizzie nodded. 

The wind stopped and Lizzie felt her spine chill, her skin crawl. They needed to go. A desperate sort of fear took her over once more and almost as if they shared the same thoughts, Patrick took off running at the same time Lizzie did. As soon as they began, Lizzie felt her leg cry out in protest. It didn’t like this whole running business and pain pulsed every time her foot hit the ground. But flight was what she clung to now, knowing fully well she’d dropped her rock. She couldn't fight. 

So she gripped Patrick’s hand and fled with him, praying they’d come upon the road soon. How long had they been running? Why wasn’t the road appearing? They’d set off in the wrong direction, that was what had happened. At least, that’s what Lizzie’s brain was telling her. It was the panic whispering into her ear, insisting that they should veer left or right or something, anything. Because they were going in the wrong direction. 

But those things were close and coming closer still, they couldn’t deviate from the path now. And christ, did Lizzie’s leg hurt. It hurt and she wanted to have a lie down and she wanted to catch her breath. She knew it’d be the end of her but it’s what she wanted, yet Patrick kept dragging her along. His grip on her was vice-like. Then she heard a motor. An engine. A car. The road was close. So close she could hear it but why couldn’t she see it but hope reason up in her, catching in her throat. They were going to make it to the road. 

Then her leg gave out and she crumpled to the ground, yanking Patrick backward. He stumbled, their hands breaking apart, but he did not fall down. Lizzie cried out, hands cradling her leg. 

“Get up!” Patrick blindly reached towards Lizzie. 

“I can’t, it hurts,” she whimpered. 

“Please, Liz, get up,” Patrick begged, his eyes feverishly darting behind her. 

Lizzie shook her head. 

“I can’t,” she repeated. 

Patrick knelt down in front of her, grabbing her arm. 

“I’ll help ya, c’mon now, we’ve gotta hurry,” Patrick informed her, trying to pull her up. 

“No, ah, stop, it hurts,” Lizzie gasped, pain searing in her leg. 

For a moment, Patrick put her back on the ground, but then he tried to pull her to her feet again. 

“Lizzie, please, I don’t want to leave you,” Patrick insisted. 

As he tried to force her to her feet, Lizzie attempted to push Patrick away from her. Her leg hurt too much and she was so tired and maybe if she was very quiet she wouldn’t be noticed by them. 

“Lizzie,” Patrick’s voice sounded mangled and broken. 

He was holding back a sob, full of fear and brimming with despair. His voice broke through the pain. If she stayed here, she’d die. The road was close. She had to go with him. But as soon as her decision had been made, she felt Patrick pull away from her. 

“Fuck, I’m sorry,” she heard him manage to say through a restrained sob. 

And then he was running. Running away from her. Leaving her. He was leaving her. And things became clear as she heard the scittering of them. 

“Don’t leave me!” the words were ripped out of Lizzie as if her life depended on them. Maybe they did. “Patrick, please don’t leave me!” 

But Patrick didn’t turn back. He didn’t even glance over his shoulder. He just kept running. He screwed his eyes shut and just kept running until he could feel asphalt under his feet. And then he opened his eyes. He was on the road. He’d made it. But he couldn’t be sure they wouldn’t follow him. And he swore he could vaguely, distantly hear Lizzie. So his feet kept moving, kept him running, this time along the road. 

Patrick ran and ran and then he stopped. He turned around and he felt the pull. The same pull they’d all felt, right before it had all gone to shit. They weren’t close, but they still wanted him. They called to him. If he went back, he could save them. Mark. Sandra. Lizzie. That was their promise. And why would they break a promise like that? If he just hurried back now, he could do it. He’d be the hero, the sort of hero he’d wanted to be since he was six. 

“No!” Patrick screamed and whirled around. He marched forward a couple of steps but then found that he couldn’t bring his feet to walk any further. 

Was he safe? How the hell could he even tell? In his gut, he felt the pull still. The intoxicating promise of splendor, of safety. But Patrick also felt the sickening twist of guilt. He’d seen it all. Seen what Sandra did, what those things made her do. He couldn’t even be sure if it had been Sandra herself, or something that looked an awful like Sandra. How would he even tell? His thoughts were racing, his heart pounding, and Patrick just wanted to run. But his legs still wouldn’t cooperate with him. 

Then it was suddenly very bright and there was a loud, blaring honk accompanied by a screeching noise. Patrick turned to look over his shoulder. Someone was clambering out of the driver’s side. At first, their face was indistinguishable and Patrick felt hot tears start to trickle down his cheeks because surely that was one of those things. They’d come for him and he hadn’t been safe at all. But then his eyes adjusted and the figure came closer and he realized it was Mrs. Dean, the librarian. 

“Patrick?” Mrs. Dean frowned, edging closer to him with what appeared to be a mixture of caution and concern. 

“Please,” Patrick choked, “Please, we need to get away from here.”


	2. Chapter 2

'The Elmsdale Chronicle'

“Monsters in Brooks Woods?”   
Written by Victoria Gates 

Four days ago, Patrick Innes (aged 18) was found on the road that runs through Brooks Woods, badly shaken and in shock. He claimed that he and three of his friends went camping in the woods, as most youth are apt to do, what with schools letting out and spring break already here. The other reported teens, Sandra Jackson (aged 17), Elizabeth Waterfield (aged 18), and Mark O’Neill (aged 19), have been reported missing. The woods were searched but no evidence of foul-play was found. These kids simply just disappeared.

“Kids come and go in Elmsdale. They all just want the millennium glamor, and what not,” Police Chief Joseph Franz responded when asked for a comment, “No sign of them in the woods, we’ve got our ears to the ground for signs of them elsewhere. Best case scenario, they’ve just run away.” 

Chief Franz refused to comment on what the worst case scenario might be. Which isn’t surprising. There have been an alarming amount of missing person cases originating here in Elmsdale, most never having been solved. What makes this particular case so interesting is that Mr. Innes insists that his friends were brutally attacked, and possibly killed, by monsters. The young man claims that while they were camping, he and his friends ran into unearthly creatures that were out to get them. 

“He’s in shock,” Dr. Bernice Daylesford explained when questioned on why Mr. Innes would regale such a story, “Until he’s been given some time to recover, he won’t be able to tell us what really happened in those woods.” 

Flur Innes, Patrick’s mother, has taken Patrick to visit his grandmother a few towns over. After a few days rest, he will be questioned by the police again. Is the young man a suspect? My sources indicate no. As mentioned, there is no evidence of foul-play. The camp wasn’t disturbed and no bodies can be found. But that does raise the question of what happened? Are there really monsters in Brooks Woods, waiting for the next unsuspecting victim? We’ve all heard the stories about the boogeyman that likes to steal away naughty children who stay outside after dark. Who’s to say those stories aren’t true? 

That being said, reality is always a lot more tame than fiction. The most likely case is that these three missing kids probably did run away and will be found in the coming days. Chief Franz has assured the parents, and the community, that he will leave no stone unturned. Regardless, our hearts and prayers go out to the families in this situation. 

~~

Tanya finished reading the news article, feeling a slight thrill run through her. It was the only legitimate news article she’d been able to find regarding the Elmsdale Monster, or monsters in some of the creepy articles that Tanya had been looking at. It had all started last night, when Ram had sent her a link over Skype in an attempt to scare her with a little spooky story. Elmsdale was a real place and it was a two hour drive from where they lived, so it hit close to home.

Curled up in her bed, the lights out, Tanya had been gripped with delicious fear. Even though since prom-night, things had been all topsy-turvy and truly terrifying what with real life aliens almost constantly trying to kill her and her friends (the Shadow-kin, that super freaky flesh eating dragon thing, oh and not to mention the chilling Lankin). But Tanya still enjoyed a good spooky story and the little thrill being scared safely like that made her feel. 

The Elmsdale Monster(s) really took Tanya’s fancy. She’d spent every free moment she had looking up story after story about the monster and she’d been lucky enough to find the news article she’d just finished reading after school. That meant she’d been allowed to take her time, soak up every prickling of fear the words brought her. 

And, despite the nice weather today, her skin had broken out in gooseflesh and she felt a little cold. Even though this article was two weeks old, Tanya still couldn’t help but wonder. What if there was actually something in the woods up there in Elmsdale? Knowing aliens existed made things like this hard to ignore. Now anything was possible. Ghosts? Sure. Weird, teenager stealing monsters in the woods? Absolutely. 

Walking almost with a skip in her step, Tanya made her way to the coffee shop down the street where she and her friends had planned to meet earlier in the day. It really was beautiful out today and Tanya, thoughts filled with the spooky stories revolving around the Elmsdale monster, breathed in the warm air with a smile on her face. It took her only a handful of minutes to arrive at the coffee shop and upon entering she immediately spotted her little group of friends. 

April was sipping iced coffee through a straw. Ram sat nursing a vanilla latte (that no one would mention because Ram really didn’t like people acknowledging the fact he hated regular coffee). Charlie, because he hated the bitterness of regular coffee, had gotten his usual hot chocolate, so he could pretend it was coffee (which Tanya thought was actually very sweet). And Matteusz had black coffee with two sugars. Sitting in front of the empty seat saved for Tanya herself was a hazelnut latte. 

The five of them had sort of made a habit out of coming here, at least to the point where they all knew what the other one was probably going to order, and Tanya quite liked this. It made them seem like a real group of friends. Not that they weren’t but Tanya liked it when they did normal friend things instead of just getting together when the Earth was under siege by aliens or some other alien nonsense. Coming to the coffee shop and just chatting was really nice. 

“Hiya, Tanya,” April waved as Tanya came over and sat down. 

“What took you so long?” Ram asked. 

Tanya took a sip of her latte. 

“I was reading a newspaper article,” Tanya replied. 

“Of what?” Matteusz prompted. 

“What would you guys say to a little camping trip?” Tanya asked, trying hard not to smile too much. 

She didn’t want to overplay her enthusiasm and dissuade her friends from agreeing to come with her on this, well, rather impulsive decision she made the moment she’d sat down. Her question got a few puzzled looks from her gang. 

“Was the newspaper article about camping?” Charlie asked, quite sincerely. 

“Nope,” Tanya shook her head. 

“Tanya, please don’t tell me it was about that urban legend shit I sent you last night,” Ram groaned. 

At this, Tanya really couldn’t help but grin. 

“Uh-huh, but listen, here me out,” Tanya confirmed. 

Ram rolled his eyes and sat back in his chair. 

“Urban legend?” Charlie frowned, his eyes flicking towards Matteusz. 

“A myth, Charlie, like commonly believed story that may not be true,” Matteusz answered, which seemed to instantly clear things up for the alien prince. 

“And most of the times, they’re a little scary,” April added. 

“Like the one I sent Tanya last night,” Ram finished, “Just some dumb scary story I sent to scare Tanya.” 

“Why would you want to intentionally scare Tanya?” Charlie asked, glancing towards Ram with a slight hint of horror.

“It’s fun,” Tanya responded and kept talking despite the quizzical look on Charlie’s face that screamed he wanted to know why being scared was fun. “Anyways, I found this news article published two weeks ago that claims the Elmsdale Monster struck again, with an eye-witness surviving and everything. I was thinking, maybe the monster is really an alien and that we should check it out. It could be fun to camp together, a weekend well spent, plus we could maybe kick some alien ass while we’re at it.” 

“Tanya, the Elmsdale Monster is just a stupid story,” Ram countered, “Plus, I don’t want to go camping.” 

“Does the rift even go that far? Like… radius wise or whatever,” April wondered. 

“It could have wandered there,” Matteusz offered. 

“Something’s out there, and I want to check it out,” Tanya said, “We’d only be camping for one night.” 

“I would not mind camping. It might be fun,” Matteusz declared, eyes shifting the boyfriend sitting on his left, “Plus, is a human experience for you, Charlie, alien or no alien.” 

The look the two of them were sharing made Tanya smile. They were so in love, it almost made her sick. 

“Oh, I do not want to go camping with those two love birds,” Ram scoffed, “Don’t want to hear something I can’t unhear.” 

Matteusz shot Ram a cold look but Charlie said, obviously, “I’m not sure what that means, but I suppose if I want to be really human, I want the full experience. So I will go camping.” 

This immediately eased Matteusz, who’s chilled expression melted into a smile. He pulled Charlie a little closer to him. 

“I guess I’ll come too, then,” April shrugged.

“What? You too?” Ram gaped. 

April sipped thoughtfully at her iced coffee. 

“Well, if Matteusz and Charlie and Tanya are all going, who else am I going to hang out with this weekend? What else would I be doing anyways?” April said matter-of-factly. 

“Miss Quill’s outrageously complicated homework,” Matteusz offered, which got a laugh out of all them, even a little snort from Ram. 

“Well, I can always hang out with my other mates this weekend,” Ram huffed, still playing hard to get. 

But there was a certain way he was holding himself, the sort of way that betrayed he was going to cave in soon. Tanya just knew it. Ram wouldn’t want to miss out on alien hunting, even if he didn’t want them to know that. It was like the vanilla latte. Or the fact that Ram really did consider them all friends. 

“Alright,” Tanya said, “You can come or not, whatever you want, just know it’s an official camping trip now!” 

“What makes it official?” April wondered. 

“Oh, my mum would never agree to let me go camping alone up in Elmsdale. She’d want to come with me, that is if she even let me go in the first place. But now I can tell her it’s for a school project,” Tanya explained, “And I know she’ll let me go now because you and Charlie are coming with me.” 

“What’s special about us?” April siad, finishing the last of her drink with the usual empty-cup straw noises. 

“My mum loves you, April. She likes how responsible and mature you are. Talks about you like you’re my big sister,” Tanya informed her and she couldn’t help notice how April tried to hide a pleased smile. 

Was that a little blush in her cheeks too? Tanya then turned towards Charlie. 

“And she likes you because you’re responsible too, but more in like a teacher sort of, no-nonsense sort of way, you know,” Tanya waved her hand around vaguely as if that vague motion would fill in the gaps the words left. 

“But I am not a teacher,” Charlie protested. 

“Yeah, she doesn’t think you are, dummy,” Tanya rolled her eyes, “It’s really probably because you talk like an old person, what with you being an uncultured alien and all that.” 

“I am very cultured, thanks,” Charlie sounded quite offended.

Matteusz placed a gentle hand on Charlie’s shoulder. 

“Yes, you are, but you do not talk like normal teenager,” the polish boy said. 

This seemed to ease Charlie slightly, although he still looked as if he wanted to argue with Tanya. It was now that Tanya felt a little bad. She hadn’t meant to upset Charlie. She’d hoped for a more complement angle than this. 

“She likes you Charlie, which is saying a lot because my mum hasn’t liked a lot of my friends in the past,” Tanya informed him, neglecting to mention that she hadn’t really had an awful lot of friends until now. 

It was at this that Charlie seemed to completely forgive and forget Tanya’s inadvertent insult blunder. He smiled at her and he was not in any way trying to hide how pleased he was. Almost as if rewarding himself, Charlie took a big gulp of his hot chocolate. 

“I can drive us up,” Matteusz offered then, “My cousin will lend the car.” 

“Or we can take my car,” Ram half-mumbled, looking gloomily into his latte for a moment. 

“Thought you were gonna hang out with other mates this weekend,” April teased. 

“What? And let you lot go out there and fight monsters without me?” Ram asked as if it were the most ridiculous idea in the world. “You’d all be doomed without me around to protect ya.” 

“We could bring Quill,” Charlie piped up. 

At this, Tanya resisted the urge to squirm in her seat. She still wasn’t sure how comfortable she was with Miss Quill’s and Charlie’s relationship. On one hand, Charlie seemed like a very nice guy who wouldn’t kill a fly, even if he was forced to do it. But on the other hand, he did like to boss Quill about and his people had put another living thing inside her head in order to enslave her. Tanya didn’t know what Quill had done back on their home planet, but she wasn’t sure how humane of a punishment that was. And sometimes it was easy to forget Miss Quill was essentially Charlie’s slave because the two of them didn’t act like that on the daily, or at least in obvious ways. Unless Miss Quill was in a mood. Or if she had to save Charlie’s life. 

“Why would we want to bring her?” Ram shook his head, sipping at the last of his coffee. 

“Why not? If there is an alien in those woods, wouldn’t it advantageous to bring Quill along? Out of all of us, she is the most skilled fighter,” Charlie sounded like such a prince then. 

Tanya could even see him glancing in Ram’s direction, as if in his head he was already assessing them to see who were assets and who weren’t. Whenever it came to alien things, he’d get that whole prince manner about him. Alien things and group projects. And sometimes what was on the television. So, Charlie got that whole prince manner about him when it came to aliens, school projects, and TV. Obviously the essentials.

“I do not think that Miss Quill would like to come with us,” Matteusz pointed out. 

“And, anyways, how are we supposed to have fun with an adult around,” Ram added, almost as if he was tacking on some evidence to his previous statement. 

“We aren’t going for fun, we’re going to go find a monster,” Tanya reminded him, feeling a little put-off by the fact that her monster hunting excursion was being hijacked by having a fun time with friends. 

Not that she was that put-off, actually. After all, hadn’t she wanted them to come not just to find a monster but to bond, so they could become the best of friends. So really, a part of her was pleased that her excursion was being hijacked while the monster hunter inside of her was a little off put. 

“We can always do both,” said April. 

“We will do both,” Ram agreed, giving Tanya a very small smile for a brief moment. 

“Then we will camp this weekend,” Matteusz grinned. 

“Hunt monsters and have fun,” Tanya felt quite excited. 

“Does camping usually include monster hunting?” Charlie questioned. 

Matteusz chuckled at this and he started to explain to Charlie that no, camping really didn’t include hunting monster. Tanya set to work on finishing her latte, quietly listening to her friends briefly chat. This would be a splendid weekend. Hopefully. Of course, Tanya was anxious to find out if the Elmsdale Monster was actually an alien but here was her chance to really get to know her newfound friends. And that in itself was rather exciting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Hopefully everyone's in character and that there aren't too many obvious mistakes in my writing (I proof-read a couple of times but I always seem to miss something). I'll be posting the rest of the story at some point, once I've finished reading. Usually I finish writing before I start publishing, but I got impatient. Hope everyone enjoyed and look forward to more! Thanks again so much for reading!


End file.
